Secret
by Amethyst5
Summary: Well, Alex... No, that's gonna sound dodgy. And it's not. A/J. *grins*. Rosie lost the next chapter.


Chapter One; the Invitation   
  
  
"I love you! Now tell me you love me back!" She stared intently at him with her wild blue eyes. Her hair was blowing gently across her face.   
  
"I…" he began. He couldn't say it. Her eyes changed from playfulness to menace. She waited. "I…I don't love you."   
  
She started, taken aback. "You… you don't love me?"   
  
His mind whirled. He wouldn't say it. He couldn't. He was so confused. Her eyes were hypnotising him. She gently stroked his cheek. "So. Do you love me, or not?" she teased and, to his surprise, smiled at him.   
  
"I… I love you, Jos." There. He had said it. That wasn't so bad, was it?   
  
*   
  
Alex woke with a start. Screaming seemed like a good option right now, but his throat was too dry. He breathed out. That had been the worst dream yet. He had actually said it.   
  
He had been having these one on one dreams lately. It gave him cause to think they would happen. But no. They wouldn't happen. He would make sure of that. He wouldn't let them happen.   
  
Jos - Princess Josiane of the Copper Isles – was the last person he would cross. He fumed at the way all the guys fell about over her. She was nothing but a pretty face. Definitely not his type.   
  
He slid out of bed – it would soon be dawn – and got dressed. He prepared himself for the tilting yard. He would keep his lead on Alanna, if it were the last thing he did. He smiled at his own ruthlessness. Alanna was a friend, not a foe, but he couldn't get rid of his competitive streak.   
  
He slipped outside into the fresh, cold winter air, off to practise. He brooded over the dreams he had been having lately. How could he stop them? He was mulling over just this when he walked into something solid, which let out a squeal. He looked up, and wished he hadn't.   
  
"Sor–" he had begun, but now stopped himself. He was staring into those blue eyes again. For a second, he felt he was having the dream again, the way her hair played across her face in the winter breeze… He snapped himself out of it immediately. Josiane gave him a slight smile, if you could call it that.   
  
"Hello," she said coldly. She was well aware of his dislike for her. He repeated the greeting, hardly moving his lips. "Off tilting?" she mocked, surveying his outfit. He answered her curtly. She scowled. "I can take a hint," she snapped, and stalked off. Alex glared after her.   
  
*   
  
The wind whistled through his hair; his stomach jumped. He hit the target perfectly and rode on. Glee soared through him after his triumph. He rode back to his starting position, nodded his head to the invisible opponent and charged. His horse bolted down the lane. He crouched low with his lance outstretched and with a force that spelled him backwards hit the target neatly. He turned his horse around and set off to the stables, having succeeded in breaking his last record of 20 hits in a row.   
  
As he came closer to the fence, he heard clapping. He turned, expecting to see Alanna, back from the desert, sneaking up on him again, no doubt. His smile faded when he found who it was and a frown took its place, as the sarcastic clapping grew louder.   
  
"Oh, Bravo! Bravo Mr. High and Mighty!" Josiane bellowed. He didn't answer. "You know, I have never tilted in my life. And what a waste that was. I could have been prancing around on a horse with a stick, instead of learning etiquette and manners. I am truly ashamed." Her sarcastic tone heightened. "Why didn't I learn? I could have been just like Sir Alanna. What did I miss?" Alex stopped at the sudden insult to Alanna. They may have had their disagreements, but she was still a friend.   
  
"What do you want?" he asked hotly.   
  
"I want you to teach me to joust." Was she being serious? Her face was blank. Alex couldn't tell.   
  
"No."   
  
"No? Well, insulted as I am, I must be going." She whisked away without another word. Alex rode on, completely bewildered.   
  
*   
  
After bathing and eating, Alex returned to his rooms. He unlocked the door and crossed his room to his bed. Then he stopped. A letter was on the floor by his door, obviously slipped underneath. He stooped and grasped it firmly as he ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letter itself. It was short, but the meaning it held was very plain.   
  
  
  
Sir Alexander of Tirragen,   
  
Meet me tonight at the stables, at 8 o'clock. I am to show you that I am not just a pretty face, and prove to you I am no idiot. Come if you wish. Prepare for fencing, and defeat.   
  
Princess Josiane.   
  
*   
Hi, this was under Rosie's (Briar's Rose) account, but now it's here. Under mine. Amethyst. Hi. Please review, and thanx if you did before! This is my A/J fic that Rosie made me do cos I dissed Alanna + Jon. It's still A/J! . Bye! 


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